Drowning In Love
by I Want A Pet Wombat
Summary: "Not being able to swim doesn't determine who you are, it doesn't make you pathetic. You're still the same strong, beautiful Santana Lopez. I'm not giving you up that easily." One-shot.


**AN: Just a small little one-shot I thought of while at the beach yesterday. Enjoy!**

"Please San?" Brittany's eyes were focused on the darker girl's face and her bottom lip was jutting out as she asked the same question for the third time since the phone call one hour ago.

"No. I've already told you we're not going Britt!" Santana snapped back as she kept her eyes firmly focused on the tv, she knew that one look at Brittany's puppy face would melt her resolve and she would end up agreeing.

"Pretty pretty please with cherries, whipped cream and pickles?" The odd food combination caused Santana to whip her face towards Brittany in confusion, brown eyes meeting crisp blue. Santana took in the glimmer of hope swimming amongst the startling blue and felt the last bits of her resistance fading away, the exact reason why she had been avoiding eye contact. She sighed.

"Fine. We will go to the stupid party." Brittany either didn't hear or chose to ignore the bitter undertones to Santana's words as she let out an exited squeal before reaching over and planting a big kiss on Santana's surprised face.

"You are the best girlfriend ever! We are going to have so much fun, I love swimming! I think it's because I'm a dolphin. You like swimming don't you? I mean you're a dolphin too so you kinda have to like it."

Santana opened her mouth to respond but Brittany started talking again, her excitement evident through her voice.

"Oh what are we going to wear? Well you're going to wear your red bikinis, I know they're your favourite. But what about me? Should I wear my pink one-piece? Or should I wear the blue bikinis?"

Santana felt a small smile start to spread across her face as she pictured Brittany in her bikini, the way the blue complimented her eyes and how her toned abs were constantly on show for Santana to ogle along with her breasts that displayed a delicious amount of cleavage in the blue material. She licked her lips slightly before answering.

"Definitely the bikini."

Santana guided her car to a stop outside the massive two storey house, taking in the huge wall surrounding the property as she climbed out of the red vehicle. She popped open the trunk and pulled out her towel and floppy straw hat which she perched on her head before she let Brittany in to get her own hat and towel. She held back a giggle when she saw Brittany wearing her obnoxious yellow towel, the hood over her head designed to look like a duck. It was obviously made for children, the hem of the towel stopping at Brittany's belly button, but it was still her favourite and Santana loved the way Brittany's face would light up every time she wore it, although it was hard for Santana to see her face this time as it was obscured by a pair of goggles.

The duo walked over to the large wrought iron gates, Brittany's pinky firmly clasped over Santana's as she swung their hands between them in anticipation. Santana reached over and pressed the button for the intercom next to the gates, both girls speaking into the box.

"Helloooo?"

"Let us in Hobbit."

Blaine's voice crackled over the speaker. "Wow Britt, you don't have to yell but hello to you too. I thought you guys weren't coming?"

"So did I." Spat Santana, the harsh look on her face easing when Brittany kissed her hand and shot her an adorable smile. "Urgh whatever, well we are here now so can you let us in?"

"Oh right!" The gate slowly started to open and Santana pulled Brittany through who was still staring at the box, her thinking look plastered on her face. The look that meant Santana was going to be asked a question real soon.

"Hey San?" Yup there it was. Santana gave a small murmur to prove she was listening as she turned to face her blonde counterpart.

"How did Blaine fit in that box?" Santana let out a small giggle as Brittany's nose scrunched in thought, she loved the way Brittany was so innocent. Well for some aspects of life anyway.

"It's like a telephone, you can still hear people without them actually having to be where you are." Santana explained patiently.

"Oh so kind of like when we have phone sex and I can still hear you even though you're on your bed and I'm on mine."

"Uh yeah, sort of." Santana smiled at Brittany, a faint blush colouring her cheeks as she looked around to make sure no one else had heard. "C'mon, let's go find the others."

The rest of the glee club were fairly easy to find, their excited shrieks and yells leading the couple straight to the pool area where an intense battle of chicken was happening in the large pool.

"Oh San let's go join in, we can totally kick their asses!" Brittany was practically jumping up and down in excitement as she followed Santana who placed her stuff down on a deck chair away from everyone else, pulling a bottle of sunscreen from her bag.

"Sunscreen first." The two girls busied themselves coating their body and limbs with the white substance. After a while Brittany started jumping around, almost dancing but with nowhere near her usual grace. Eventually she sighed and stopped moving around.

"Can you do my back? I can't reach!" Santana let out a small chuckle when she realised the purpose of the girl's childish antics.

"If you do mine." She responded, giving Brittany a small wink as she squeezed some cream onto her hands and started rubbing it into the supple skin of the blonde's back. She kneaded and massaged her back, allowing her hands to drift lower than necessary even after the cream had all been rubbed in. However Brittany soon became impatient and turned around.

"Have you finished yet? I want to go swimming!" Santana let out a disappointed sigh at the loss of contact when her hands fell from Brittany's back. The bikini was great but it was torture not being able to touch Brittany while she was in it, at least not in the places she wanted to.

"Yeah, you just have to do mine now."

Brittany took half as long to do Santana's back, much to the Latina's disappointment. And then came the question she had been dreading.

"Can we go swimming now?" Brittany asked, her goggle covered eyes flickering from the blue water to Santana's own chocolate ones.

"I don't really feel like swimming. I might just stay out here for a bit, you know get my tan on."

"But San! Who's going to be my chicken partner? How can you kick Finchel's ass when you are over here?"

"Finchel?" Santana asked, her eyes clouding with confusion as she eyed the people in the pool.

"Finn and Rachel." Brittany explained as she pointed to the pair in the pool who had just knocked Tina off of Mike's shoulders. "Come on, I know you don't want Rachel to wi-in." Brittany finished in a singsong voice as she looked down at her girlfriend expectantly whilst applying her 'war' zinc.

Santana sighed, Brittany was right - she really didn't want Rachel to win, but she really did not want to go in the pool either. "Britts I really just want to stay here and sun bathe."

Brittany looked like she was about to protest but luckily Quinn came up and provided the perfect distraction. "Hey Britt do you want to come be my chicken partner? Everyone else is already paired off and it doesn't look like Santana wants to play." Quinn eyed the Latina who was currently stretched out on the deckchair, a large pair of sunglasses over her eyes a she gave a small noise of approval.

Brittany shot one last disappointed look at Santana before skipping off with Quinn, splashing everyone as she did a large cannon ball into the water. It wasn't long before another intense battle was underway, the air filled with both triumphant and indignant shouts. Santana smiled as she let the sun combined with the yells of her classmates lull her into a deep state of relaxation.

"Hey Brittany, where's your evil twin?" Puck yelled out from the other end of the pool once he and Mercedes were declared the winners of the game.

"I don't have a twin." Brittany replied, her face scrunched up in thought as she contemplated the question.

"I do believe he was referring to Santana." Kurt explained to the girl.

"But Santana's not my twin! That'd be like incest or something..." A look of disgust passed over her face, now eyeing Puck warily.

Puck sighed, sometimes Brittany took things way to literally. "All this aside, what is she doing?" He enquired as he looked over at Santana laid out by the side of the pool.

Brittany pouted, "She didn't wanna swim with me!"

A mischievous grim passed over Pucks face as he swam to the edge closest to the Latina who still hadn't looked up. Pulling his arm back he sent a large splash of water over the girl, causing her to shriek and sit up abruptly.

"Aargghh Puckerman! You fucking idiot! I am going to kill you!" Anger was laced through her words as she screamed at Puck who was still laughing from his spot in the water.

"Come and get me then." He said through his laughter, offering her a wink which only seemed to anger her more.

"No. Maybe some of us wanted to stay dry, it's not easy to get your hair looking as perfect as this." Santana snapped, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she glared at the mohawked boy.

" Seriously girl? You're worried about your weave? Even Kurt's in the water!" Mercedes said in an amused tone causing Santana to redirect her glare before rolling over onto her stomach signalling the end of the conversation.

Puck came swimming over back to the group, the mischievous smirk on his face not gone but apparently even bigger than before as he addressed them. "I say that two of us guys go over there and throw her in."

"I don't know, doesn't that sound kinda mean? And she is a girl, maybe she has some girl issues that aren't allowing her to swim." Tina said as she gave the brunette a sympathetic glance.

"Nope. That's next week." Brittany jumped in not aware of the effect the knowledge had on some of the guys as they paled slightly at the thought of the blood. Well except for Puck.

"Great it's settled then! Who's going to help me throw her in?" He said gleefully, rubbing his hands together in excitement. After a brief argument Puck and Finn walked out of the pool and quietly up to the Latina, sending a thumbs up to the group when she didn't hear them approaching. Puck mouthed a silent countdown to Finn, "One, Two, Three!"

On the count of three Puck reached over and grabbed her wrists, Finn reaching down for her ankles. Santana immediately began struggling as they lifted her up off the chair, her angry shouts filling the air.

"Put me down! What are you doing? Let me go you idiots! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Her shouts were getting louder and more frantic as they neared the pool, but no one noticed the panicked undertones to her voice.

"I CAN'T SWIM YOU IDIOTS!" She shouted desperately as they reached the edge of the water, still struggling against their firm grip.

Puck snorted "Yeah, like we're going to fall for that crap Lopez." He nodded to Finn and they both swung Santana out over the water before letting go, causing her to fall into the clear blue water.

Santana's limbs immediately began flailing around, trying in vain to keep herself above the surface of the water as she struggled to take air into her lungs. She felt herself sink under as she panicked, still kicking valiantly to stay afloat as water invaded her mouth and nose causing her heart to accelerate in fear. She felt herself start to get dizzy and disorientated as she exerted all of her energy into simply trying to keep her head out of the water, not hearing the scared voices of her friends around her.

The others had watched as the boys threw Santana into the pool, some laughing slightly at the struggle the girl had put up. Their amusement had quickly faded when instead of seeing her gracefully resurface they saw her thrashing around in the water, a look of panic etched onto her face as she repeatedly continued to fall under the water level despite her hard efforts.

"Oh my god! Someone help her she's drowning!" Rachel yelled out as she watched Santana struggle in the deep pool water.

"Santana!" Brittany had screamed out desperately, tears starting to fall down her face in worry for the girl. The others had paled and stood frozen in shock and fear. "SOMEONE FUCKING HELP!" Brittany screamed loudly as she tried to swim over to the girl. Hearing the normally happy girl curse so viciously awoke Puck from his stupor and he dived in behind Santana, swimming underwater as he wrapped his arms around her waist before resurfacing to pull her back to the edge of the pool.

The remaining boys helped pull Santana out, laying her shaking body on the warm pavement next to the pool. It was only once she safely out of the water did Santana's struggling stop, replaced by coughs as she let air finally re enter her burning lungs. After a few hacking coughs Rachel rolled the girl onto her side to help her breathe easier but quickly stepped back when the girl vomited up some of the water she had swallowed, easing the coughs slightly. Brittany immediately took her place, rubbing small comforting circles on her back and whispering reassurances in her ear.

"Shh baby, it's okay. You're safe now, everything's going to be okay. I love you, it's going to be fine." She repeated these words into her ear over and over until the Latina had calmed down enough for Brittany to sit her up, leaning heavily against the blonde. Mike handed her a towel which she wrapped around Santana's shoulders, trying to warm the still shivering girl as she rubbed it up and down her arms. Blaine appeared from around the corner, leading a middle aged man into the pool area and up to the group.

"This is Mr Peterson, he lives next door. He's a doctor." Blaine explained as the man knelt down next to Santana, offering a sympathetic smile to her.

"Hey sweetie, I heard you had quite an ordeal just then. I'm just going to quickly check you out, make sure you don't need a hospital okay?" Santana nodded slightly, allowing the doctor to continue. He knelt down and pulled a stethoscope out of the brown bag he carried over.

"I'm just going to take a little listen of your heart and lungs, make sure you haven't swallowed too much water." He placed the cold metal on Santana's skin instructing her to take a few deep breaths, which caused her to cough a little.

"She seems to be okay. Her heart rate is a little fast but that's probably from the fear and her breathing is slightly laboured but that is to be expected after something like this. I can't hear any water in her lungs but just stay away from fluids and sodium for a few hours incase. Other than that I suggest you take her home and keep her warm, let her rest for a while and maybe sleep it off." Blaine thanked the man as he walked him back over to the gate, waving as he disappeared from view.

Brittany returned to her spot next to Santana, tucking the dark hair behind the girl's ear. "What do you say San, you ready to go home?" Santana just nodded, her eyes not leaving the pavement in front of her. She was highly embarrassed about the ordeal, even though no one else seemed to care that she was seventeen and couldn't swim, in fact they even seemed worried about her. She leant into Brittany as the girl hauled her up, taking a few shaky steps forward as Brittany lead her towards the front.

When they reached the car Brittany opened the passenger door and ushered Santana inside, the girl not making her usual protest about wanting to drive as she buckled her seatbelt. The blonde then turned to Finn who had carried their stuff out, taking the items from him and placing them in the back of the car.

"Tell Santana I'm sorry, you know for pushing her in and stuff." He mumbled, clearly ashamed of what happened.

"It's not your fault Finn. None of us knew what would happen." Brittany offered him a tight smile as she replied before climbing into the driver's seat. She started the car and drove off, Santana not acknowledging the shouts of her friends to feel better soon.

They soon pulled up to Brittany's house, Santana visibly relaxing as she walked into the familiar space. Brittany instructed her to go have a warm shower and get changed into dry clothes while she got them something to eat. When Brittany finally heard the shower start she set to work on cutting up some of the fresh strawberries in the fridge, adding them next to the pieces of brownie she had already cut up on the plate. Satisfied with her creation she picked up the plate and walked down the hall into her room where Santana was dressed in one of Brittany's too big dance sweatshirts and a pair of her own grey sweatpants that she had left at Brittany's after their last sleepover, trying to brush the tangles out of her hair.

"Here let me do that." Brittany said quickly as she set the plate on the nightstand and gently took the brush out of Santana's hand, slowly starting to run it through the wet hair. Once she had detangled it she started to separate the hair into strands, intent on braiding it to keep away any more knots.

"Sanny what's wrong? You haven't said one word since we've been at Blaine's." Brittany asked as she shot a worried look at the Latina through the mirror, the brunette's eyes focused on her hands folded in her lap. "You know you can tell me anything right?"

Santana snapped. "I'm embarrassed okay! I'm fucking seventeen and I can't even stop myself from drowning! I'm pathetic...and now everybody's going to know! I'm surprised you want someone as useless as me." A single tear dripped down the Latina's face, her eyes still refusing to look up at Brittany as she bit down on her lip. Brittany's heart broke at the other girl's bitter confession.

"San look at me," Brittany waited until Santana's tear filled eyes came up to meet her own. "I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world. Just because you can't swim doesn't mean I love you any less...and neither will anyone else. Being able to swim doesn't determine who you are, it doesn't make you pathetic. You're still the same strong, beautiful Santana Lopez. I'm not giving you up that easily."

Santana gave Brittany a small watery smile before launching herself into the blonde's awaiting arms. "I love you too B." She whispered into the crook of the girl's neck, breathing in the sweet smell of strawberry that seemed to linger on the girl. She jerked her head back in confusion. "Uh Britt, why do you smell like strawberries?"

"Oh right!" Brittany reached over and grabbed the plate, picking up a piece of strawberry between her thumb and forefinger. She guided the berry up into Santana's mouth, smiling when she saw the brunette's face relax as she enjoyed the sweet taste. Santana then proceeded to do the same thing for Brittany, both girl's continuing the pattern until the plate was empty of the red fruits. They laid down on the bed, dark limbs entangled with light.

"Tomorrow I'm going to teach you how to swim." Brittany declared into the darkness of the room, feeling Santana's grip tighten at the words.

Santana started to protest, "Britt no, I don't think..."

"Shhh. Do you trust me?" Brittany cut her off, her blue eyes staring intensely into Santana's brown ones.

"Yes with all my heart, but..."

"I'm not going to let you drown. Unless it's in my love." The seriousness of Brittany's line was lost when Santana snorted.

"You are so cheesy." She said between her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

"You love it." Brittany replied confidently, a large grin taking over her face.

"Yeah I really do." Santana whispered as she tilted her head, closing the gap between their lips. She should have known that Brittany wouldn't care, that Brittany would love her even more than she loved herself. It was just the way that the blonde worked, she always knew the right thing to say to Santana. It was why she loved her so much. Brittany's matter of fact voice soon dragged Santana out of her thoughts, mischief twinkling in her blue eyes as a smile stretched over her face.

"Besides you're my dolphin. And dolphins need to swim. It's in the gay shark rules or something."


End file.
